Family

So, I just got back from the Lake House in Michigan visiting my mom's extended family. It was so fun! The lake house involves staying in a 3 bedroom ranch right on the lake with about 20 people for almost a whole week! It's so fun, but it's also crazy! Aunt Stephanie has 7 kids ranging from 2-19 years old. And there was my family and then Aunt Jennifer with 2 of her kids. It's just so fun to hang out with my family and see every one.

I think one of my most favorite parts of the week was watching and listening to my little cousins say the cutest things. For example, my little cousin Kimberly who is 4 years old told us one night that she was going outside to "praise the Lord" and that she didn't want any one else to go outside to distract her. Well, then through the window we saw her dancing around and she was saying things such as, "God made everything.... And it is all beautiful... and God made me... and I am beautiful... and He is so big and amazing..."

How awesome is that?! I wish I praised like that. I've been realizing recently how easy it is for me to come to God just with a list of stuff I want and need or "feel" like I need. And I very rarely go to Him to just thank and praise him. And I CERTAINLY do not go to Him to just listen. And THAT is what I need to be doing! Another time my mom was sitting on the dock trying to just be quiet and listen to what God was telling her. And then Kimberly came up to her and asked her what she was doing. My mom said she was listening to Jesus' voice and asked Kimberly if she ever heard the voice of God. And Kimberly said, "well... I usually talk so much that I don't have time to listen to Jesus."

It was so cute, and also so true. I would try to gloss over the fact that I don't take the time to shut up and listen to what God is trying to tell me. I just try to keep "plowing through." and instead of listening to what He is trying to tell me, I am always trying to "do" things, either for myself or even for Him. When that's not what I'm supposed to do... It would be better for me to just stop and listen instead of always trying to just keep going and plugging my ears to hear what's really going on... and what He really wants me to hear. Whether it's a challenge or a an encouragement. So, I guess there we go... I need to stop and listen. Why am I even blogging right now? haha =)

Here are some pictures from the week! Enjoy!

Andrew, Hannah, Joe and Emily for a Jet Ski Ride!

We somehow ended up all giving each other foot rubs.

It was so windy and made so many waves that we needed to wear goggles! We felt like such dorks... haha =)

Slide Show

4th of July

Happy 4th of July every one!
The truth is that I LOVE this holiday... I know it sounds wierd, but I really do. It's one of my favorites. Not sentimental or anything, but it's always really fun. It's one of those holidays that you get off of work and get to be outside while eating good food... and then of course there are fireworks! And I really like fireworks. They're loud and pretty... what a great combo. haha =) And the great thing is that our next door neighbor has a big party and sets off his own fireworks. Which means that I get to sit on my back porch and see an awesome show from the comfort of my own house... it's great!

Other than that, life has been pretty busy. I've been doing quite a bit of work at the church, so it's great that I love my job. Since there was a group in Honduras led by Joey, I got to take over some stuff, and Thomas and I got to "be in charge" of the Encounter service on Sunday. It was awesome and so fun! We had a prayer service and it was great to just have some time to pray. We had some of the elders come too to pray over people that wanted or needed prayer. It was such a cool experience. I wish we did that more often. It's so awesome to have people pray over you. And there is such power in that! There is so much more power in Christ than we could ever imagine or think. It's kind of mind-blowing. He offers us so much, yet we tend to be content with whatever we can provide for ourselves! It's like when Jesus said that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed we can move mountains. And I never take advantage of that! My faith tends to be so weak... and I prefer to stay in my comfortable zone where I don't leave anything up to Jesus. But, if I give up control to Him, my life will go MUCH BETTER than when I try to do it myself.

Here's the thing... it seems like I've learned this lesson hundreds of times before. But, I always have to keep learning it... I guess it's just one of those things that we will be learning our whole lives. The more it sinks in, the more my life will change, but I won't truly believe it until I'm in heaven... oh haste the day! =)

Dave comes to Mahomet to visit me in Mahomet this weekend and we're even going to go up to Wheaton for a day to see his family too. So, hopefully there will be some great pictures to post! We're definitely looking forward to it.

Happy Independene Day to all! =)